Adaptation under Fire

An insightful analysis of military adaptation in war, why it matters, and how to improve it.... Anyone interested in war planning and military organization will find much of value in this book, which should be required reading for civilian policy makers and military officers alike.... a sweeping, lively, and enjoyable foray into how to deal with the unknown once war erupts.... Highly recommended. * CHOICE *
...this book offers significant context and substance to our collective understanding of military change and how we conceptualise adaptability. Its clarity and purpose is refreshing in a field dominated by buzzwords and other language that routinely confuses activity and effects. * Wavell Room: Contemprary British Military Thought *
This is an important and timely book on the importance of adapting our military when confronted with a new enemy strategy. The authors draw on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for examples of when the commanders did not adapt their strategy to the challenge posed by unconventional warfare. And it describes how success was achieved when a new commander introduced a new strategy adapted to those challenges. A well-written and interesting analysis of a subject that has become critically important to the U.S. military. * William J. Perry, 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense *
Barno and Bensahel have put their finger on the most important national security issue of our time: not terrorism, not great power competition, not AI or drones, but how the US military thinks about, and prepares for, the unknowable future. If a junior officer can read only one book on military organization, it must be this one. If our senior officers don't read this one book, our very security will be imperiled. * Brad Carson, Congressman and former Undersecretary of the Army *
Military leaders may fail to anticipate challenges or learn in advance from the experiences of other armed forces, but nothing is so fatally dangerous as failure to adapt in wartime. Barno and Bensahel are a unique soldier-scholar team who have written an important book on just that question. This is an outstanding and compelling work, grounded in recent history, that is of urgent practical as well as theoretical importance. * Eliot A. Cohen, Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS and co-author of Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War *
Historically, the American military learns expensively by failure. Our current and future enemies may deny us even the time to adapt. The sharp policy recommendations Dr. Bensahel and retired General Barno offer in this excellent book would improve our military's resilience in advance * something the American military urgently needs, and that will lower the cost in blood and treasure our country pays in future wars.Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute and editor of Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military *
Every military professional should read Adaptation under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime. Retired Lt. Gen. David Barno and Nora Bensahel have delivered a magisterial survey of a critical factor in military effectiveness, the capacity to adapt in the midst of conflict. * ARMY Magazine *
Lt. Gen David Barno and Dr. Nora Bensahel are two of the sharpest minds on defense policy... Adaptation Under Fire is an intelligent, well-written, and well-argued book." * Diplomatic Courier *
A thoughtful and informed analysis. * Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs *
David Barno, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, and Dr. Nora Bensahel brilliantly explain one of the most difficult aspects of the military for people to understand-the complexity and importance of change in the military, especially while in conflict... Barno and Bensahel do an amazing job of simplifying these complex topics. * Military Review *
Adaptation Under Fire is a solid and useful addition to the literature on innovation, adaptation, and change in the military. Its analysis of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are its most compelling and illuminating chapters, but its recommendations should and will generate much worthy conversation and debate. * Joint Force Quarterly *